Monday, June 18, 2012

Revenons à nos moutons!

Spring this year in Paris is less than glowing ... and in a few days, summer will be here. Brrr! I hope Mother Nature will get back on schedule by then! In the mean time une petite laine n'est pas de refus. I love wool. I also love hot weather, and though the two are not necessarily incompatible, they can also be enjoyed separately. There is a season for all things... are you listening Mother Nature?

When I worked in the Paris design office of a prominent wool weaver, my boss used to make me smile by saying, revenons à nos moutons ("back to our sheep")if ever we strayed to far from the matter at hand. That's another way to say "back to the subject" and I'm a sucker for a pun.

Thoughts of summer and wool make me think of the wonderful mill, Brun de Vian-Tiran located at what is for me a favorite vacation spot, l'Ile sur la Sorgue. This integrated wool manufacturer insures the quality of its production on the premises bycarding, spinning, weaving, milling, even fulling with teasel thistle for certain finishes of its blankets, throws and shawls. (more about about teasel previously here.)

photo: en provence

"In 1808, Charles Tiran and his son-in-law Pierre-Laurent Vian set up a wool mill to work fabrics on the banks of the Sorgue river. The wool industry was already important in the region, which had been a Papal territory until 1791: sheep raising, thistle and madder growing, and quarrying of fuller's earth had been carried out there for centuries, and the Fontaine de Vaucluse, the largest spring in Europe, supplied the water and powered the machines needed by the industry. Eight generations later, the direct descendants of Vian and Tiran are carrying on the wool master's trade in the Brun de Vian-Tiran factory."

The company combines old and new technology, creating a product of quality with a

clear and traceable identity.

Canisses blanket 10% Linen - 90% Merinos

100% kid mohair

100% Yangir

Camargue blanket 100% merinos

Chandigarh throw 100% Cachemere photo: Maisons de Campagne

Luciole throw 100% mohair photo: Maisons de Campagne

Suri Alpaca

Yak

Cashgora

Yangir

and back to our sheep...and other animal friends:

Brun de Vian-Tiran weaves some of the best and rarest fibers known, among others:

the Suri Alpaca, variant of the Peruvian Alpaca, is rare and hightly sought after;

also rare, the Cashgora is a crossbreed of Cashmere and Angora (Mohair) goats;

the Yak, sort of Asian bovine that lives on the slopes of the Himalayas and drops its fleece during its annual moult;

the Yangir is the name of the Siberian Ibex which lives in the foothfills of the Himalayas in Kirghizistan. The average fibre is twelve to thirteen microns, which surpasses the finest of Cashmeres. The peak of softness and elegance, with a lightness that makes it almost impalpable.

Objects return our gazes look for look. They seem indifferent to us because we look on them indifferently. But for the eye that sees clearly, everything is a mirror; for a sincere and mindful observer, everything is profound.

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